


The one where Grizz says something at prom

by Blasphemoos3



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gram, Grizzam, M/M, Prom, also the author was tipsy sorry?, definitely a little drunk Grizz, gay?, precious gram must be protected, sort of panicking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-23 18:51:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19707349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blasphemoos3/pseuds/Blasphemoos3
Summary: A slight reimagining of prom with more ~panic~ and ~eye contact~ where Grizz confuses Sam or comes out I’m not sure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops sorry for this. Might actually follow up, this was a half formed idea while I was making dinner.
> 
> Update: now edited for tense and typos!

Grizz’s heart was hammering. He’d had too much to drink before not-prom. Standing alone in his room looking at his closet trying to pick something to wear had required fortification from his dad’s whiskey selection. He felt like he was adapting to the reality of their situation okay but he was worried, constantly, that this was it and he’d be stuck here close to Sam and unable to act on his years long crush. So he had too much whiskey and chose black pants and his brightest shirt and wildest bow tie and one of his dad’s blazers that didn’t even match in an effort to feel like the entire thing didn’t matter. He didn’t care what he looked like or how silly all of this was or that his countdown to coming out had been cut off and he was **drowning**. He hadn’t meant to tell his friends he didn’t plan on seeing them again after graduation, but the Jameson was coursing through his system and made the truth seem so much less scary. 

Looking at their confused and slightly hurt faces Grizz smiled and patted them on their backs before heading to the refreshment table for some water. On his way there he looks over and sees Sam sitting at a table alone. Grizz makes a quick decision to skip the water and go see Sam, maybe compliment him on his outfit or ask him to dance or confess his big gay crush on him. 

What he manages to do is plop down next to Sam and offer a nod, his hair flopping into his eyes and hot shivers of panic running through his body.

“How do you like prom?” Sam asks, turning to smile at Grizz

“What?” Grizz asks, surfacing from his thoughts in time to see Sam’s eyes flash with something, maybe annoyance? The hot flush of whiskey through his body is making it hard to focus. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak well. How do you like prom?” Sam repeats, turning more in his seat to meet Grizz’s eyes.

_Fuck! You asshole!_

“No, no! You speak, you speak fine! It’s just the music is loud in here!” Grizz says, louder than he maybe needs to, trying to enunciate clearly even as the liquor makes his muscles harder to control. “Hey, can you teach me some sign language?” He asks, trying to make up for before. Sam gives him a little smile and signs something, Grizz watching his graceful fingers and wondering what those hands would feel like on his skin. 

“What does it mean?” Grizz asks, fluttering his hands and trying desperately to will some of the drunk buzzing away. 

“I hated high school” Sam replies, a wry smile on his face before it drops and Grizz thinks maybe Sam’s not having that great of a prom night experience. His inebriated brain tells him it’s now or never and he busts out the only sign he knows, layering his arms and making the semblance of a bull, wiggling his fingers at the back end. He crinkles his nose and smiles, trying to get Sam to smile back. 

“What is?” Sam asks and this time Grizz hears him and his smile gets wider. 

“High school. Bullshit the only sign I know, but High school is bullshit”. Grizz says and drops his arms, turning more in his chair to face Sam. “Being stuck here like it’s still high school is bullshit”. Sam smiles at him softly, understanding lighting up his face.

“It’s hard being the smart one of the team” he says, signing along with his words and quirking his eyebrow at the end.

“And the gay one” Grizz says, looking up as Kelly steps onstage.

Sam sat there, shocked. Did Grizz just say he’s gay? Or was he saying that because Sam’s gay? What the hell just happened?!


	2. Chapter 2

Sam sat stunned watching the stage hyper aware of Grizz’s presence next to him. When Kelly thanked Gwen and Grizz he stood and clapped trying to focus on what was happening and not the wave of heat coming off the boy standing inches from him. Once Gwen got Kelly off the stage he thought maybe it was safe, he could make a joke and relieve the mounting tension. But when he turned to comment on what had just happened he saw Becca had replaced Grizz and caught sight of the glitter rainbow painted on the ass of Grizz’s sweatpants as he...ran away? 

“Did Grizz say anything to you?” Sam asked Becca. She turned her head towards the exit then back to Sam and shook her head. 

“He looked a little like he was going to be sick, must be something going around” She signed with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Sam reached over and grasped her hand, squeezing twice trying to convey how sorry he was about the rum and coke and for upsetting her. 

“I’m okay. What was Grizz chatting with you about? Anything good?” Her smile met her eyes this time and Sam found himself relaxing and smiling back at her before answering. They were okay. 

“Nothing important, sort of what Kelly was getting at, its all bullshit” He grinned while making the same sign Grizz had, a faint blush on his cheeks.

“Sam Eliot you said there was no one here for you and now you’re blushing!” Becca grabbed his arm and started pulling him from the room “let’s go home, I need sweatpants”. 

~~

Grizz was sitting in the lit up galaxy hallway, head between his knees while his heart rate lowered.

_Did I just come out? Or maybe not? Fuck! Just...pull yourself together. Get your shit and get it together and go back in there like you weren’t just internally immolated by the human embodiment of the sun! You’re great! You can clean up prom and maybe walk Liz or Carly home and maybe try again some other time. Learn some fucking sign language for next time maybe._

Grizz sighed and stood and stretched, rolling his shoulders. As he walked back into the ballroom he saw Sam and Becca leaving, Sam smiling down at Becca with so much affection Grizz ached from it. Why couldn’t he have that? Why **shouldn’t** he have that? 

“Wait up!” Grizz called out, starting a shuffling run after Becca and Sam, determined to catch up and take advantage of this new reality, hopeful that Becca would pause and let Sam know he was being chased.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making some moves maybe?!

Sam was startled when Becca halted by the door to leave prom. He turned to ask her what the problem was and saw Grizz rushing towards them, a smile on his face that made his nose wrinkle and his dimples show. He looked precious.

“Did you remember another sign you know?”  
Sam asked when Grizz arrived at their side making what Becca called his “smartass face”. 

“Very funny! No, just wanted to walk home with you. With you both.” He added hastily, maybe blushing or just pink from the drink he’d had.

“Sure Grizz, if you’re nervous walking home we’ll protect you” Becca said, signing along and winking at Sam before she reached over and pushed Grizz between them. “Isn’t that right Sam?” She asked.

“Yes, the deaf kid and the tiny kid will protect you” Sam said, grinning up at Grizz and walking out of the inn. 

“That’s so nice of you both” Grizz replied once he met Sam’s eyes again he winked.

“Where are you staying?” Sam asked, looking up at Grizz. 

“Oh, I’ll come with you to Allie and Cassandra’s, I already have my pjs” Grizz replied, gesturing towards the decorated sweatpants before turning toward the road the Pressman’s house was on. 

Sam had always thought that Butts looked good in sweatpants, especially once joggers became a staple in most of his classmates’ wardrobes. Somehow Grizz’s ass managed to look even better in the bulky grey sweatpants that any other butts he had ogled. He signed as much to Becca, raising his eyebrows. She snorted out a laugh and tried to cover it with a cough.

“So Grizz, did you have fun at prom?” Becca asked when they hit a glowing circle from the streetlight, signing along for Sam.

“Yeah! It was definitely better than what prom would have been like if we weren’t...y’know...stuck” he looked over at Sam and was thankful his blush was obscured in this light. “I learned a little sign language and we got to be reminded of our existential dread” Sam gave Grizz a wry smile and laughed.

“Like we weren’t already aware of who and where we are but being here...maybe we can reinvent ourselves just like we’re remaking civilization?” Sam asked, trying to hold eye contact with Grizz and puzzle out if what he’d said before Kelly got on stage was about Sam or himself. Dark brown met blue and Grizz nodded thoughtfully, eyes flitting to Sam’s mouth and back to his eyes. 

“If you two want to sit up and philosophize feel free, I’m going to bed. Goodnight” Becca said, walking up the porch stairs and into the Pressman’s house.

“Do you wanna sit?” Sam asked, gesturing towards an area of the porch lit by the living room lights. Sam sat in one of the two adirondack chairs and smiled up at Grizz who seemed to be having a lot of thoughts about the simple request. 

Grizz’s brain was short circuiting. _Did Sam know he was gay? Was he offering Grizz a chance to tell the truth? Could he risk sharing his secret? Sam had been out for a while and he didn’t seem to be ostracized for that any more than for being deaf. Grizz had the social power of the Guard and the new friendships offered by this place. Maybe Sam was right, he could reinvent himself here. It was more important if you could work or if you knew how to help the fledgling society more than who you were attracted to. Grizz knew a lot, he was valuable for more than his size and place in the Guard. He could do this, maybe._

Taking a jerky step forward Grizz looked at Sam who smiled again, his eyes lit by the light inside and the shadows thrown across his face made him look like he was carved from marble and brought to life by magma. He was done resisting Sam’s siren song, it’d been a Sisyphean effort for years and he was ready to let the boulder crush him and set him free. When he finally sat down his hands were clammy and trembling.

“I think you’re right about reinventing ourselves here, or maybe being more authentic?” He started, pushing his hair behind his ears nervously. 

“It’s an opportunity, like Cassandra said” Sam agrees, desperate to know if the tension he can feel building is going to burst into something wonderful. Grizz had sat back in the chair and while the light from the window made it impossible for him to hide he was looking anywhere but at Sam’s face and nervously rubbing his hands against his pants.   
“Like you and I. We’ve never talked much but now that we’re here and we all have to rely on each other I’m going to teach you sign language and you’re going to teach me survival skills” Sam said, trying to give Grizz an out while maybe guaranteeing that they could spend more time together. 

“Yeah, like you and I” Grizz said tentatively, slowly reaching over and taking Sam’s hand and giving it a small squeeze.


End file.
